Molly Sharpe's Brilliantly Silly "Murder Oops!" opens at The Edinburgh Fringe Tonight!
- Dan Ruth
- Aug 1
- 4 min read
Friday, August 1st, Los Angeles, CA
written by Entertainment Editor, Dan Ruth
Since mounting her hit solo play, Murder Oops! at the 2025 Hollywood Fringe Festival, Molly Sharpe has been busying herself for her run at the Clover Studio at Greenside @ Riddles Court for the 2025 Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Winner of the 2025 Hollywood Fringe Festival's "Best Comedic Performance" award, Murder Oops! follows the silly, clever and um, horny comedic story of a woman who falls in love with her boyfriend’s murderer.
I chatted with Molly before she left Los Angeles to cross the pond to Edinburgh’s hallowed theatrical ground. I ask about the show’s idea and where it came from. “I found an old voice memo from 2015 where I had written a song about falling in love with my boyfriend’s murderer. I was going through a breakup at the time, and coming out of a long-term relationship, I was writing random music, had the idea and then wrote the song," Sharpe said. The first iteration was in November 2024 in a night of new one -acts at Loft Ensemble called Tales From The Gatzbyverse. Sharpe continued, "It had most of the storyline, but it only had the one song. It was originally titled, Blood on the Floor, it was fifteen minutes long, and had a good response, a good reaction, I wanted to make it an hour, I wanted to make this a full thing.”
And full is exactly what it is, full of off-color humor, bawdy characters and non-stop laughter. Sharpe honed this piece to include more than that one origional opening song, now each character we meet in Murder Oops! receives their own a cappella solo, which only adds to the insanity of the proceedings, which I nearly didn’t get a chance to even see. Murder Oops! was a hard ticket to get ahold of this past June. With a heavy buzz, this was a show that was on everyone’s lips as a “must see.” Lucky me, post HFF, the Elysian Theatre was producing a "percolator" for Los Angeles shows that were on their way to the Edinburgh Festival, Murder Oops! was among them, and I was able to attend. Molly Sharpe is flat-out hilarious. She has created something that is so silly and so ridiculous that the more it breaks the rules, the more it just works. Molly Sharpe, or rather, the female character played by Molly Sharpe, is in the room with her dead boyfriend and his murderer. Not that it really matters who Sharpe is playing, there is no forth wall in this world and Sharpe molds and unfolds her story so simply and effortlessly, that staying on top of her story is half the fun. Anyway, so now her boyfriend is dead, but that doesn’t stop Sharpe from sucking endless face with his headless corpse until, alas, a complication! Now, her boyfriend’s murderer is in love with her. As you might have guessed, she’s already moved on to the next dude that’s about to ring the doorbell.
And that my friends, is just the beginning of the insanity that is Molly Sharpe. She makes it look simple, which is also part of the fun, and just when you think the show might just fizzle, there’s Sharpe, catching the ball in mid-air. Murder Oops! is ridiculous and please know that this is a great compliment - it’s really hard to land “stupid comedy” and make it work and boy does this show work.
Throughout this story’s lightning-fast hour, there are characters coming out of the woodwork, and all seem to be placed there to satisfy Molly Sharpe‘s insatiable appetite for tongue kissing, groping, humping and overall sexual comedic antics. By show’s end, there’s no stone or floorboard left unturned. What’s hilarious here is that Sharpe seems to bend all the rules of solo performance to such an extent that each transition is extended just long enough to achieve comic gold. When one is playing two characters is not always a great idea to have large fill in between two characters speaking, but watching Molly strut across the stage, all the way stage right, just to pick up a cardboard gun, stand there and deliver a one word line as the murderer, and then return to stage left to play our femme fatale, or another of her pleasure victims, is flat out brilliant. Sharpe, who comes from a sketch comedy background, has written many shows previously, but luckily for us, this piece really landed for her. “It’s a very easy show to put up," she said, "I made it by design to have no tech elements, and also to have very few props and to really just need me. Also, I love that this is a very distinct narrative. . .and it’s very, very fun to do.”
The fact that Sharpe is having a lot of fun is evident from the show’s first moments; her effervescence and silliness is beyond infectious. I howled throughout and look forward to hearing how Scotland embraced this cooky tale. Edinburgh, Molly. Molly, Edinburgh. To be continued. Murder Oops! opens tonight. Break a leg Molly, and (spoiler) thanks again for the slice of pizza!
Congratulations to all the artists who have brought their best to Scotland, especially those involved with the Hollywood Fringe here in Los Angeles.
Murder Oops! curtain time is 17:10 from August 1st-23rd (not 10th or 17th) at the Clover Studio at Greenside @ Riddles Court (322 Lawnmarket, EH1 2PG)
